New head coach Adam Hollioake wants Kent’s financial situation to stop being used as an excuse for not competing for silverware.

The Australian-born former England all-rounder is preparing for his first summer at the helm on Kent’s return to County Championship Division 2.

Hollioake enjoyed the best times of his county career with Surrey, whom he played with for more than 10 years.

While counties such as Surrey - whose ground is used as a Test venue and by Oval Invincibles in The Hundred competition - are well-backed, counties like Kent have much less financial clout.

But Hollioake, who was Surrey assistant coach last summer, said: “We have got to stop using that as an excuse.

“Money can be important but it doesn’t mean, if you haven’t got it, you can’t be successful.

“I’m happy to acknowledge that sides like Surrey might have more money than us. But that doesn’t give them a right just to come out and beat us.

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“History and Hollywood is littered with stories of underdogs so let them make some movies about us.”

Hollioake’s time as Kent head coach is the latest chapter in a colourful life - both inside and outside of cricket - for the 53-year-old.

On what attracted him to Kent, he said: “It wasn’t anything in particular.

“With the way I’ve lived my life, I’ve kind of free styled it and accepted whatever has come my way, and not necessarily had big goals or a set-in-stone way of going. I’ve just kind of seen where life has taken me.

“In this instance, it’s taken me down here. I don’t know why because the crowd always hated me!

“So, I’m not sure why God has sent me down this way, but he’s done it.”

Hollioake joins on a three-year deal as he replaces Matt Walker, who had been in charge of Kent for seven years.

“It’s a clean sheet and a new time in the history of Kent,” Hollioake admitted.

“Matt Walker did a great job in the time while he was here. But like every coach, and that’ll be me included, he had his shelf life.

“He did seven years, which is a heck of a stint. But I think, sometimes, things need a freshen-up.

“Me coming in here for three years gives me long enough to put my stamp on it and, hopefully, I can do that.”

Among Hollioake’s exploits away from cricket have been a fighting career that saw him become a boxer and a cage-fighter.

He believes there are skill-sets required in those sports which he can also use.

“There’s, obviously, cricket and then the other things we do in life, and some of it is transferable back into cricket,” he said.

“When I went into fighting, everybody said ‘Well, what have cricket and fighting got in common?’. It turns out that there’s a lot of things.

“Discipline, controlling your arousal levels, and preparing and getting yourself into the right shape for an event. There are transferable skills back and forwards.

“Having seen that work in a variety of different fields, that just emphasises to me that there is a process to go through to have success in cricket.”

Kent will start a second 2025 friendly - a two-day match - against Essex at Canterbury’s Spitfire Ground from today.

They will bat on day one before Kent take to the field on the second day.